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The impact of R&D subsidies on R&D employment composition

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  • Sergio Afcha
  • Jose García-Quevedo

Abstract

In this article, we examine the impact of subsidies granted at national and regional levels on a set of research and development (R&D) employment variables, and we specifically seek to identify the existence of additional effects of these public subsidies on the R&D human resources of firms. We begin by assessing the effects of public funds on private R&D expenditure and on the number of R&D employees, and then focus on the impact of these funds on the composition of human resources engaged in R&D classified by occupation and level of education. The data used are from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel for the period 2006–2011. To control for selection bias and endogeneity, a combination of nonparametric matching techniques is used. Our results show that R&D subsidies increase the number of R&D employees, but no contemporaneous increase is found in the average level of qualification of R&D staff members in subsidized firms. Nevertheless, in the subsequent years there is a positive effect on the recruitment of PhD holders. The effects of public support are heterogeneous and are dependent on the source of the subsidy and the firms’ characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergio Afcha & Jose García-Quevedo, 2016. "The impact of R&D subsidies on R&D employment composition," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(6), pages 955-975.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:indcch:v:25:y:2016:i:6:p:955-975.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/icc/dtw008
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    Cited by:

    1. Jugend, Daniel & Fiorini, Paula De Camargo & Armellini, Fabiano & Ferrari, Aline Gabriela, 2020. "Public support for innovation: A systematic review of the literature and implications for open innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    2. Santoleri, Pietro & Russo, Emanuele, 2025. "Spurring subsidy entrepreneurs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(1).
    3. Li, Jiachen & Jiang, Meiru & Li, Ge, 2024. "Does the new energy vehicles subsidy policy decrease the carbon emissions of the urban transport industry? Evidence from Chinese cities in Yangtze River Delta," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    4. Hiroyuki Okamuro & Junichi Nishimura, 2021. "Effects of multilevel policy mix of public R&D subsidies: Empirical evidence from Japanese local SMEs [The Impact of R&D Subsidies on R&D Employment Composition]," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 48(6), pages 829-840.
    5. Modou Mar & Nadine Massard, 2021. "Animate the cluster or subsidize collaborative R&D? A multiple overlapping treatments approach to assess the impacts of the French cluster policy [The impact of R&D subsidies on R&D employment composition]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(4), pages 845-867.
    6. Tchorzewska, K.B. & Garcia-Quevedo, J. & Martinez-Ros, E., 2022. "The heterogeneous effects of environmental taxation on green technologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).
    7. Gao, Yuchen & Hu, Yimei & Liu, Xielin & Zhang, Huanren, 2021. "Can public R&D subsidy facilitate firms’ exploratory innovation? The heterogeneous effects between central and local subsidy programs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(4).
    8. Cao, Qinwei & Qiu, Shunli & Huang, Jian, 2022. "Contradiction and mechanism analysis of science and technology input-output: Evidence from key universities in China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Hu, Xinlei & Wang, Xiaokun (Cara) & Ni, Linglin & Shi, Feng, 2022. "The impact of intercity economic complementarity on HSR volume in the context of megalopolization," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    10. Lanahan, Lauren & Joshi, Amol M. & Johnson, Evan, 2021. "Do public R&D subsidies produce jobs? Evidence from the SBIR/STTR program," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    11. Afcha, S. & García-Quevedo, J. & Mas-Verdú, F., 2023. "Gaining or losing PhDs: What are the effects on firms' linkages with universities?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PA).
    12. Liu, Zixu & Zhou, Jianghua & Li, Jizhen & Ma, Xufei, 2024. "More is less: The dual role of government subsidy in firms’ new product development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General

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